Chapter 2
XxX
"SUMMONING TECHNIQUE: TWO GREAT SAGES!"
The 6 realms of Pain stood glaring silently into the cavernous blackness. The pipe his former master had been forced into had been demolished through the usage of his Animal Realm's Grand Bull. This was not a shock to Pain, whose eyes of lineage had seen to the edge of the infinite in this world and back again.
The 50 meter tall bull had charged straight into the wall, causing the brittle concrete that supported the buildings around this wide, water filled clearing. Ame was known globally for its rain that came every Sunday that filled every gap of the city. A true watery city.
Something that came close to causing him to twitch with nervousness was the reaction he got from his teacher. Jiraiya had emerged from the darkness of the pipe as the pipe began to be crushed by the bull. The bull had promptly been launched a far distance back, as on impact, it exploded into a cloud of thick steam. Pain had not seen Jiraiya appear, he had felt the man's movements in the air currents. Only now had he gotten a glimpse of the elusive Toad Sage.
And it wasn't pretty.
Jiraiya stood proudly on the crest of the water, his sandals hovering slightly on top of the surface thanks to chakra enhanced surface tension. His attire had not changed in the slightest; this wasn't some kid's manga where the hero miraculously managed to change clothes simply by unleashing his awesomeness. No… what had changed was Jiraiya himself. His skin had small pustules coating it like pebbledash, a somewhat more matt like finish to his already calloused skin and the two most obvious differences. His eyes and his shoulders. His eyes had changed to a sharp yellow color, a shade reminding him of rapeseed; the pupil itself had aligned itself horizontally across his iris into a slightly curved rectangle. All these slowly faded as he stepped out from the pipe except from the 'guests' he had perched like parrots on his shoulders.
On his shoulders, he held what appeared at first glance to simply be a couple of plush toys. It wasn't until the apparently female one started an argument with Jiraiya that Pain realized just what those two were.
"Jira! What did I tell you about summoning us like this! I was just cooking dinner and now I have to work out, it's not becoming of a lady toa…" "Oh shut up you old bat, its good to see you Jiraiya, how long has it been since you came for tea? I told you that I wanted the second version of those books but noooo…" "You doddering old pervert! Why did I even marry you? My mother said your eyes were too close together but no sir, I married you because you treated me right" "MA! For Pete sake! Jira called us to fight and you argue with me!" "Why you hypocritical old frog!" "I RESENT THAT COMMENT!"
Jiraiya wanted to continue looking badass but unfortunately, he was denied that pleasure by having to interrupt the warring factions operating in the region of his shoulders.
"Ma, Pa. Sorry for spoiling your dinner but I had to call you. I needed someone to be a catalyst for the transformation and with the both of you it really helps."
"Ah it's not problem sonny, now, who's the enemy who forced you to call us out?" asked Pa, the elder of the two toads.
"That would be him," said Jiraiya pointing over to the 6 bodies
"Which one?"
"All of them" muttered Jiraiya "Say hello to the Wielder Of The Rinnegan, The Six Paths Of Pain"
Pa and Ma could only look in shock at the six bodies. They did not know the names but from the appearances, it was a just a matter of elimination before guessing who was who.
Asura Realm, a strangely smiling man with no hair. Heavily built and with what appeared to be a spiked helmet. A couple of bumps outside of the body's normal musculature showed he was concealing something, but it didn't match anything they'd seen before.
Animal Realm, an apathetic man with hair reaching his lower back. Piercings along his chin, under each eye and one between the eyes. With a hairstyle that could easily be mistaken as feminine if he were to actually try to be female and a lithe build; this realm is not for combat.
Naraka Realm, an old weathered man. Built and bred in times of war with a grizzled appearance to match. Medium length hair spiked up with his Rain Headband. Piercings in an arrow formation from the bridge of his nose to his cheeks on each side. 2 spikes were driven into the flesh of each ear, resulting in an oddly elf-like appearance.
Preta Realm, a young man of rotund capacity. Hair slicked back and tied off with his Rain Headband. His piercings stuck in his ears similarly to Naraka. Another two were underneath his eyes and a single piercing was below his entire bottom lip.
Human Realm, the realm with the longest hair and the oddest piercings. An athlete's physique and a young body. A diagonal bar ran through his nose with two circular drops under his eyes. Almost like tears. Ironic, the only realm to cry is Human.
Finally, Deva Realm. A large amount of piercings along the edges of his ears, from lobe to top. A pair of snakebites adorned his lower lip and 3 piercings were horizontal along his nose. His spiky hair looking so gravity-defying it was almost as if it had been molded into shape.
Only two things linked these 6 bodies together. Their collective usage of the Rinnegan eyes and their unnaturally uniform hair color. A bright orange, beyond strawberry blonde and delving into the realms of lunacy.
"Master Jiraiya… I am afraid" said Deva Realm in a melancholic tone "that the time has come for you to forfeit your life" continued Asura Realm, in the exact same voice "to the God of this world" finished Animal Realm
"Why are you so obsessed with this 'God' thing? No mortal is a God" called Jiraiya
"That is where you are wrong Teacher, I was always a God." Said Deva as he and the other realms assembled into a line. "Now… feel the wrath of God!"
The six realms knew what to do; they assumed a pyramid formation of 3 in front, then 2 then 1.
Jiraiya saw this wall of flesh and piercings running at him and decided enough was enough. It was time to play hard ball.
The female toad on his shoulder became still, never moving, not even to breathe. Then Jiraiya felt it.
A new source, one of pure nature was entering him via a small chakra hole located in his shoulder joint. This was beyond that of normal humans, and even past the level of the rumored 'Master Shinobi'. This was power relinquished to only one every generation. This; was Senjutsu.
"Sage Mode!" uttered Jiraiya as he awaited his former pupil.
The warts came back to his face; his fingers and toes became webbed again. And those eyes, they changed back into the eyes of the toads. This was Jiraiya's final stand, and he was going with a bang.
Jiraiya could feel the water around him vibrating, the speed increasing ever so slowly, as the 6 men approached him. His hands started forming seals, melding his chakra into complex shapes within his own body.
"Tornado Of Spines!" called the elder man as the chakra finished its pattern and the technique was completed. The already adequate hair on his head grew to inhuman lengths and started to coil itself around him. This length of hair was hardened to a near steel-like density and was spiked in such a way that it made piranhas seem tame.
The paths of Pain were already making their way into an alternative attack formation, approaching from above and about to enter via a gap in the top of the tornado. Naraka Pain entered into the fray first. He drew his fist back to allow some momentum to build up as he jumped into the air above Jiraiya.
As Naraka entered the small gap above Jiraiya, Naraka realized that the older man was grinning to himself. The tornado's intensity increased to thrice as much as it was before. The internal winds and the spikes soon started ripping into the skin of Naraka, his flesh being scraped into a fine paste.
Or at least it would have, had Naraka not used a Substitution as soon as the spiny hair had entered his body.
'Dammit!' thought Jiraiya as he saw the burly figure of Asura charge at him. Jiraiya prepared for the impact into the side of his tornado, creating a small amount of hair under his feet to act as a springboard back into the air. But Deva had other plans.
"Shinra Tensei" said Deva in that monotonous voice of his as he extended his hand towards the tornado of flesh and hair. A sudden impulse of concentrated nothingness swept forwards from that hand. It bit into the tornado and sent it's human core flying backwards at a rather impressive rotation speed.
'Focus on a single point; If I get disoriented…' thought Jiraiya as he saw his estimated landing zone. A large lump of rock making a floating island in this sea of rain. He could see a vague shape following him. The sheer size of it labeled it immediately as Asura.
Jiraiya touched down on the island like true ninja should. He entered into a roll to redirect his momentum before entering his Gamaken stance. Asura soon entering his own battle range and wide stance. The large body made the fighting stance seem that much more impressive. But not to someone like Jiraiya who, while smaller in both girth and height, was used to fighting opponents of all shapes and sizes.
Asura decided to use his larger size the way a fighter always should. To his advantage. He leaned forward extremely quickly and head-butted the older man in front of him. Jiraiya was nearly caught off guard by this act, bending with the force to limit the damage to a bruised head.
'Jeez…how is this fatty this fast?'
Jiraiya felt inside his mouth as he bent downwards, finding that usual squidgy tooth he kept for emergencies. With a pull, he pulled this out and raised himself to his full height. A quick finger flick towards Asura later; and a miniature smokescreen surrounded Asura's head.
Jiraiya circled the Realm of Pain quickly, cautious in his movements so as not to fall victim to the traps of the other Realms. They seemed content to stand as a circumference to the fight. Not interrupting but not allowing escape.
'What are they doing? Just looking at me like that'
What Jiraiya neglected to see was Animal covertly forming seals under the cover of his Akatsuki mantle.
As Jiraiya reached the blind spot behind Asura, he sent a punch that had been reinforced through his whole leg, side and shoulder into the back of Asura's head.
The loud slap of skin on skin echoed around the clearing as the two forces collided. Asura's hand extended outwards, grasping Jiraiya's fist without even turning his head.
'How did he just see me! That smokescreen has irritants derived from chilli peppers in it, no human should be able to see through that. And the angle… it's too perfect. That's a textbook block. What is this man!'
Asura continued on with his assault, using the other hand to grasp under Jiraiya's armpit. He threw Jiraiya over his shoulder almost as easily as he may have lifted a child, letting the older man skid across the floor roughly.
Jiraiya stood up and faced back at the eternally smiling man, that grin becoming slightly unnerving in its unwaveringness.
Animal had already finished his seals at this point, chakra buzzing in the air as the summoning matrix connected with this time and space. Soon enough, the sky above the small island darkened.
A large dome had taken the place of the majority of the sky above Jiraiya, hollow but archaic in design and enormous enough to surround him with plenty of room inside. Jiraiya looked at his opponent, the large man staring back at him intently.
"Descend" murmured Animal
The dome crashed and fell around the two, this pair had already got drawn into their own fight. They had taken the verbal command as a signal and had attacked at that moment. Now, here they both stood, encased in a dome which was gradually sinking where the edges were on water.
Asura and Jiraiya faced each other in the dark, slight cracks provided a small amount of light. The kind of soft light that was used on early mornings to acclimatize night eyes. No words would be exchanged here, none were needed.
Asura charged, using the bright yellow eyes in front of him as a target. He let fly with a right handed punch aimed at 6 inches under those eyes. The dark seemed to mess with the large mans aim, as the punch struck air.
'Damn… I could hear that punch's snap loud and clear' thought Jiraiya as he ducked and launched a high kick at Asura's chin. This kick was blocked by a well clenched fist and a hammering blow from the Realm. Jiraiya's leg flew wide and kicked into the edge of the dome.
"Fuck!" yelled Jiraiya as he felt his ankle dislocate; then he realized his error. He quickly put his ankle back in position with a grunt of pain and jumped away as soon as possible. In the darkness, the spark that occurred was easy as pie to spot. There was a small time delay between the spark and the result.
The result noted was an explosion loud enough to deafen Jiraiya permanently had Fukusaku and Shima not stuck their tongues in his ears to block out the noise. The explosion was the proof of the pudding, showing the strength of this dome, unscathed from its trial by fire. In the aftermath glow of the molten slag that was part of the ground, Jiraiya could see what had happened.
Asura's head was filled to the brim with machinery; the top of his skull was open with multiple spiky protrusions showing where it had opened and silos dotting the flat top of his head above his eyes.
Jiraiya looked at this man… no this monstrosity. It used to be human, now it had its innards replaced with machinery. Was this how Pain worked?
'I'm gonna have to get outta here and find out'
Jiraiya used the momentary confusion of the explosions aftermath to push chakra to his feet.
"Blink"; and he disappeared into the shadows. Asura looked around, having to rely on his own perspective.
Blink was a technique that was known throughout the shinobi yet very few actually knew its name. It was an extremely short range teleportation technique, characterized by its minimal chakra usage and the fact that when someone approaches you and uses Blink, if you blink, you'll miss it.
It was a technique made exclusively for battle evasion.
"I can't let something like you continue to live, sorry." said a voice into Asura's ears. There was a small breeze as air started to move and a loud crash as Asura's face impacted into the rock below.
"Let's see what this thing can withstand truly." uttered Jiraiya as he readied himself against the descending dome. His legs were tensed as he aimed his kick.
It struck squarely at the apex of the dome, the keystone of the shell. This caused a mass shatter along the dome's ley lines which in turn led to widespread destruction of the dome and a tenuous silence to occur in this segregated part of the city.
"He will attack with ninjutsu. Be aware" said the 5 standing Pains in unison
Jiraiya emerged from the rubble looking little worse than when he did originally, his hands quickly forming seals
'Monkey, Dog, Ram, Boar, Dragon, Dog, Rabbit, Tiger'
"Blind Toad's Elegy!"
Oil erupted from Jiraiya's skin, coating him in the thick black liquid. He swiped his hand through the air as if he hoped to cut something.
What did happen was that the oil's volume increased exponentially as it shot off Jiraiya's arm like a salvo of missiles. Its aim was just increased by the fact that, even after the size increase, the velocity didn't change at all. It soon found its target in the form of the 5 battle capable Pains.
Oil coated the 5 men standing opposite from Jiraiya, sticking their limbs together and permeating their eyes. Each of them soon received instructions as 4 of them entered the water below them. The single one remaining was Deva, who closed his eyes.
Jiraiya touched down onto the surface heavily as Deva once again focused on him. With his hands in a Ram seal, Deva let his chakra flare.
"Shinra Tensei!" said Deva as the chakra broke free of his control and emerged.
The wave of repellant wiped all the oil from Deva, leaving not a drop on his body.
Jiraiya heard a slurping noise behind him, ears twitching as they tried to recognize the sound. He turned around and saw Preta dragging Naraka to the surface. He hurriedly looked back and saw Animal and Human on top of the water, flanking Deva.
"Jiraiya, this is unlike you. For a man who believed in a time where all people would understand each other, you're using the wrong method." Said Human
'How can he have the Rinnegan? That man is definitely Yahiko!' Thought Jiraiya
"Concentrate Jira, if you start thinking of naked ladies at a time like this then you will not end up in the nice place." Said Shima in Jiraiya's ear.
"Lightning Dragon!" called Deva from across the pool at Jiraiya. The air literally turned to electricity as static charged itself with a thin beam of chakra acting as its capacitor. This beam of chakra was branched in multiple directions, showing its difficulty but increasing the amount of charge possible.
The dragon imagery was just an aesthetic choice.
"Blink!" called Jiraiya, a small amount of chakra gathering in his feet.
Jiraiya disappeared temporarily and reappeared 10 feet away, behind Animal and Naraka. Chakra already charging in his hand, beyond the scope of his normal technique. This was a little something that Jiraiya had made after seeing Naruto's Great Ball Rasengan.
'Take the chakra… rotate…power…expand… contain…' ,thought Jiraiya as the Rasengan grew, morphing into a shape beyond the Great Ball Rasengan, soon resembling a large boulder of pure chaotic chakra.
"Super Great Ball Rasengan!" called Jiraiya as he forced the boulder into the backs of both Animal and Naraka at the same time.
Naraka had formed hand seals as soon as he saw Jiraiya disappear, bringing his personal weapon to the fight, The King of Hell. This discouragingly normal summon was simply a giant head decorated with various pieces of cloth to hide its mouth and, presumably, hair. The cloth that covered its mouth soon disappeared back into its smoky abyss, revealing the gap in reality that was its mouth.
This large semi-human engulfed Naraka quicker than Jiraiya could even comprehend and disappeared into the ground. Jiraiya quickly turned his attention to pushing the Rasengan fully into Animal.
The winds of the Rasengan soon raged around Animal's body, shredding the Akatsuki mantle and tearing into his muscle. There had been no chance of a substitution, the attack had Blitzkrieged him. The sudden power and speed meant there was no chance to escape uninjured.
Jiraiya felt the skin give way beneath his palms and grinned in success.
"2 down, 4 to go!"
His small moment of success was extinguished as soon as he felt himself lurch forwards. He concentrated through the large sphere and saw what he had missed. Preta was standing in front of the Rasengan and was slowly absorbing it, eating the chakra so to speak.
"I am disappointed, Master" gurgled a voice from the severely injured Animal as Preta finished eating the Rasengan. "You are supposed to be my superior" finished Preta. Human burst from behind Preta like a phantom, his aim entirely clear and currently unblockable.
Jiraiya was still airborne and on a collision course with Human to land. He spun his leg around, letting the weight of the metal under his sole carry him around. He saw Human get closer and closer, but went for another rotation.
Human was on him too quickly. A solidly placed punch was landed on Jiraiya in his groin. His face contorted in pain as he felt his gentlemen vegetables crunch against his hipbone. The sheer force of the punch sent him into the air, directly onto the wall.
Even with the excruciating pain he was going through, Jiraiya still kept his instincts. He felt his feet touch the wall and attached himself with chakra, hanging precariously until he bent down and used his hands too. His centre of gravity started to reassert itself as he waited until the sickening pain in his stomach had relapsed. The quad of Pain's stood and waited on a large piece of ground that could pass for an island.
No orders were passed between the four but actions were inevitable. Naraka summoned the King Of Hell to rise, again slowly. The mouth opened to reveal 2 figures inside of it. One hulking and disjointed in its movements, the other was lithe and graceful. Animal and Asura had been reanimated and healed.
The two walked out of their cramped container and stretched out, hearing loud clicks as joints popped back into place and muscles relaxed. Animal started forming a long stream of seals, taken slowly, almost taunting in the speed he was taking. The other Pain's, except Animal, took a step back to get out of the way. They knew what was coming, and soon enough, so would Jiraiya.
"Pa, Ma, I hope you've paid attention to this fight. I need you to make sure Konoha gets this." Said Jiraiya, now he could open his mouth without the risk of vomiting.
"Lil Jiraiya, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you weren't planning on going back after this fight" said Shima,
"I might not be Ma… If this man can resurrect his dead bodies, there has to be a trick to how he does it. It's my job as an ANBU Commander to find it out and report it for the good of Konoha."
A large cloud of smoke interrupted the older man, wisps traveling past his face as something emerged. A beast, and no normal summoned beast. Hardened carapace, claws attached to what could only be described at cheeks and multiple sets of legs.
The 50 foot monstrosity reared his head up and roared as it tore across the large stretch of water. A giant centipede had been brought into existence .It's legs moved so fast, surface tension wasn't even an issue when combined with its natural flotation.
Jiraiya looked at goliath approaching him, eyes closing momentarily.
'That thing has armor, weapons, size and speed to its advantage. I mustn't back down from this. Konoha is depending on me…'
"THEY ALL DEPEND ON ME!" yelled Jiraiya, eyes snapping open.
Ma looked at Jiraiya with a look of disgust.
"Jira, what's the point in that? Yelling isn't going to win this fi…" Ma was cut off in mid-sentence as a quiet retching noise started.
Pa was hunched over from his sitting position, leaning against Jiraiya's head huffing and puffing like he had just had a severe workout. His throat started to expand slowly, his gullet becoming enlarged beyond his body. Something was in there, and would be joining the group pretty shortly.
"Pa… Jiraiya! What have you done" said Shima, looking at her husband.
"I brought in a trump card Ma… this is a little something me and Pa found in that waterfall cave in Mt Myoboku."
*Ru-RU-RUUUUUUU* came a final yell as Pa's throat ejected its contents; straight into Jiraiya's palm.
Shiny and covered in toad vomit, was a large black staff, smooth to touch; 6 foot long; with a slightly curved, 2 foot blade at the end. No designs or fancy decoration, it epitomized everything the toads believed in. Its practicality, strength and lineage were what made it great, not its fashion .Shima saw this with lights in her eyes, and she recognized this weapon. The legendary weapon wielded by the first Toad Sage as he gave life to Mount Myoboku and took it back from the snakes and alligators that had inhabited it beforehand.
"The halberd of the bold." whispered Shima in reverence.
Jiraiya spun the halberd around in his palm, feeling its solid, oaken texture beneath his fingers. The weight was perfect for the man, heavy but balanced, long but agile. This was a weapon worthy of a toad sage. It resumed its grip in his palm, blade shining from the fine mist of water that was now on the halberd.
The roar of the centipede as it closed in was enough to bring the sages out of their reverie. It was now mere meters away from them, its claws entering the wall to climb the vertical distance.
Jiraiya's eyes focused in on the centipede, blocking out the noise and flailing limbs. He was timing the head's bobbing.
'Up, down, up, down, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, got it.' Thought Jiraiya as he nodded to himself to keep the rhythm.
The elder ninja pushed chakra into his legs, letting the muscles absorb the energy as he leapt low but far. Jiraiya felt a sharp pain in his leg, warm and wet. He didn't bother looking behind; he knew he had been too low. The large hooked claw of the centipede had sliced into his leg tendons.
'Sage mode will help heal that… shouldn't be too bad'
Jiraiya touched down on the back of the creature's neck and started his attack. The centipede let out a high pitched squeal as Jiraiya embedded the staff into the tender flesh on the back of the neck.
'That's right Pain… I know you're watching this. This cut is the first in a long line of ones you'll feel by my blade'
He felt the armor give up a small fight to not be cut, but it lost this fight almost immediately. The armor split almost like butter. The leaf shinobi knew this was a golden chance; he hopped onto the armor and ran towards the tail, halberd still embedded. The squealing sound that the centipede emitted was more than enough proof to validate his movements.
"Make like a banana and split, Monster"
A soft splash echoed as Jiraiya touched down on the water below him, followed by a hollow, sucking sound as the centipede hit the water. The water being displaced soon replaced itself with a resounding crash.
Ma looked at Jiraiya, eyes boggling.
"Jira… I can't believe that you made that joke now; are you off your nut?" said Ma amazedly.
Jiraiya felt his shoulders slump, he was feeling really badass until after he had finished saying that.
"Thanks Ma…"
"Enough! Come Master Jiraiya," said Deva "Our battle continues"
Deva raised his arms, as if praying to another god. His chakra concentrating underneath himself and the other realms. Slowly, they started to rise into the sky like a flock of red clouded ravens. Deva's eyes closed as his full concentration went on keeping the realms in the air and allowing them to move how they liked
Jiraiya looked up at the group in the sky, seeing the surreal invitation before him. Aerial fighting without a way to fly? It sounded even more preposterous now that he thought about it. But would he give it a damn good go?
Hell yes.
Jiraiya crouched down, ignoring the indignant shrieks of Ma about her vertigo, and leapt into the air to meet them.
Animal swept through multiple seals, summoning a large hawk into existence. Its caw echoed through the clearing as it tried to find its target.
As he rose through their ranks, he saw one of the 6 was exceptionally close to him and he made this one his target specifically. Its wrinkles and withered body made it fairly obvious this one was Naraka. A loud caw was once again heard to echo.
Grabbing the black and red mantle at that speed caused an awful lot of momentum; Jiraiya was spun so that his feet ended on Naraka's shoulders. Naraka swung a punch at the sage standing on him, Jiraiya dodging by lifting his foot up and dropping it onto Naraka's head. With the eldest realm in pain, Jiraiya looked around and saw the large hawk coming at him.
He stared at it, not separating eye contact with the bird, as it came ever closer. As the bird got within 10 feet of the duo, Jiraiya made his move. Jumping off of Naraka and onto the hawk as a springboard, he leapt at the largest target. Asura.
The hawk crashed into Naraka, taking them both to the ground as Naraka struggled against what he perceived as an enemy.
Asura on the other hand, was now struggling against a genuine enemy. Jiraiya was crawling over his large body with the agility of a spider. Asura motioned to Human for assistance which was soon granted.
Human moved behind Asura, where Jiraiya had found a rhythm to dodging attacks. He punched at the toad sage, not expecting him to take the blow and let go. Again, he was also not expecting Jiraiya to stab through Asura's foot and swing around to kick at the other realm behind him.
Human was forced back by the blow as Asura shook the blade out of his foot. Jiraiya formed hand seals.
"Wind Bullet!" yelled Jiraiya as he pushed himself up with the pressure of the blast. He expected to go way above the pair of realms he was fighting but just about matched them in height. He looked down and saw Preta, just closing his mouth.
'He must have eaten my technique… it lost power as he took it all in'
Jiraiya stabbed the halberd into Asura's back, giving him somewhere to keep his footing and causing pain at the same time.
Jiraiya punched the unfortunate realm in the back of the neck, an almost deadly rabbit punch. Certainly deadly to anyone else but the strongest defensive ninja, but Asura fell into that category. Asura just turned his head to look at Jiraiya before punching him into Human.
The taller realm grabbed hold on Jiraiya in a double arm lock, immobilizing him temporarily.
"Master Jiraiya… a god cannot be hurt by mortal hands" said Human to Jiraiya calmly as Asura rushed them.
Pulling the halberd from his back, Asura charged at Jiraiya. He threw the halberd to the ground where it stuck into the ground and cocked his fist. As he reached Jiraiya, he made use of the momentum he had gained and punched the sage straight into the stomach. Jiraiya gasped as he felt some ribs shatter from the blow. Asura followed up the assault with several blows to the face and a kick that sent Jiraiya into the air.
'Finally!' thought Jiraiya as he corrected himself, hissing as he moved his ribs but pushing through the pain.
He looked at his choice of targets quickly, seeing Asura and Human about to rise and pursue him.
'They fight so perfectly…it's too good for them all to be working together. But… how can they be working like this… it's like they're the same per-.' thought Jiraiya, a look of satisfaction on his face.
Said look was promptly wiped from his face as he felt a hand roughly grab his shoulder. Jiraiya swiftly grabbed the hand with his opposite hand, moved his other hand to be under the attacker's armpit and threw the attacker over his shoulder.
He saw Naraka appear over his shoulder and fly in the direction he was looking in, Animal's direction. The old man impacted with the long haired man, knocking them both the floor. Jiraiya saw his chance.
He let gravity do its work as he fell towards his previous attackers. Asura readied a large punch to Jiraiya as he fell. As they were about to impact, Jiraiya pushed down on the fist with his legs, overpowering the large realm and forcing him downwards into Human.
Using the airtime gained from the springboard effect, he flew at his target. Deva Realm. With only 1 realm as defence, the apparent leader was left almost wide open. Preta realm was the only one still close enough to do anything and even that was only close enough to absorb his ninjutsu attacks.
This was about as perfect a chance got in a ninja battle.
Jiraiya saw Deva tense as he drew closer, the sage taking a kunai out of his vest. Adopting the kunai in a reverse grip, the blade pointing downwards from his fist as opposed to above it, he drove its point into the realm's shoulder blade.
Deva's eyes opened in shock, his head turning and allowing him to see the wound. The blade of the knife was no longer visible; the force that the jump had given Jiraiya had the knife almost buried to the small ring at its end.
'Damn it… I missed the heart' thought Jiraiya as he started his descent to the ground.
The shock that Jiraiya had caused Deva was more than enough to throw off his concentration completely. The entire group was making a very hasty journey towards the water.
Jiraiya landed heavily, jarring his joints and freezing him in place temporarily. The realms of Pain on the other hand, landed gently, Deva's gravity powers reactivating in time for them to get a cushioned landing.
They took advantage of this opportunity, charging forward. Asura split from the group and ran towards the piece of rock that the halberd had stuck in previously.
Human and Preta launched a simultaneous blow, both hits connecting with Jiraiya's left shoulder at the same moment. A loud crack was heard as the joint snapped and was almost turned to powder by the force.
"AHHH!" yelled Jiraiya, his face on the edge of agony. That blow was beyond the defensive boost of sage mode. He was forced to his knees by the pain, coughs tearing at the back of his throat.
"Jiraiya! Jira!" called the duo of toads on his shoulders.
Deva saw an opportunity. He turned to Jiraiya and extended his hand before saying his technique.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Jiraiya felt the unnatural repelling of gravity as he was forced backwards, unable to resist between his pain and the speed of the move occurring.
He felt himself leave the ground and travel backwards, the light soon turning to inky blackness as he entered the same sewer pipe he had been forced into earlier. He hit the back of the pipe as the light turned into a small postage stamp in the distance.
"Jeez… how ironic" said Jiraiya, gritting his teeth as he picked himself up. "Ma, Pa, think you can gum my arm to my side? If I have it flailing around, I'll probably lose it."
"Ok Jira" replied Shima as her and Fukusaku started to spit toad oil at the arm. Not the same oil as before, a more sticky mixture akin to napalm in texture. This stuck to his coat and made a very solid cast.
"Thanks guys" said Jiraiya as he started running towards the light, getting used to his new arm position as he ran.
Outside, Asura had grabbed the halberd. Holding it in his hand, he kept a firm grip on the long staff handle as he ran towards the pipe. He was about to enter the sewer as the point guard when the halberd reacted to who was holding it.
The halberd was by no means sentient, it had no consciousness. What it did do was recognize its wielder. Asura felt his hand getting hot, looking down; he saw the halberd slowly entering him through the palm.
"Master Jiraiya, you have found yourself an interesting weapon" said Asura, watching the blade enter his body with no apparent injuries anywhere on his body. "But it seems that it now belongs to me"
Asura continued onwards fists ready to cause pain as he heard a yell. A beast-like roar came from within the pipes, resonating perfectly with the walls. Surely most of Ame heard it. It took him a few seconds to process what it was before it quite literally struck him.
It was the toad sage battle cry.
Jiraiya had emerged from the darkness, using the cover to build up a vast amount of speed. As he was about to leave the darkness, he had leapt and was in the midst of a spin kick before yelling and creating an opening.
Gai Maito would have cried for youth if he had been there.
As the powerful kick the sage had launched landed on Asura's chest, the large realm's head exploded in a shower of brain matter and muscle. From the mess came a long object propelled upwards; Jiraiya caught it as Asura fell backwards, letting Jiraiya carry on forwards.
"The halberd of the bold never belongs to anybody. People have wielded it, but no-one will ever own it." Said Jiraiya as he stood over Asura's body; half expecting it to get back up immediately.
'That won't keep it down long. It didn't destroy the whole head, just the top half' thought Jiraiya, his mind adjusting to the concept that debilitating wounds were a minimum requirement in this fight.
Jiraiya didn't let his mind wander too much; he sunk into an even lower stance than usual. His steps seemed like huge lunges forward, quickly moving in a single direction but could change direction quickly.
'Gamaken Evasive Stance' thought Jiraiya as he approached the group, weaving in and out as fast as he could.
The major factor in him using this stance was in its name. It was the most evasive stance that the toad sage had. By applying chakra to his joints, along with the confusing movements, the stance's greatest asset was formed.
'Afterimages' thought Deva, seeing the masses of Jiraiya afterimages that took up all the space between the realms.
The movements of the afterimages were enough to confuse the realms of pain sufficiently, as not 10 seconds after he started, Naraka was on his knees. The realm's calves were bleeding horrendously, staining the water with the red liquid. 2 long slashes along each muscle showed where they had been severed.
"Naraka… Summon Enma and heal yourself and Asura. We shall make do until you get back" said Deva to the injured realm. A small nod signified he understood as the King Of Hell rose from the water and swallowed Naraka and Asura.
Jiraiya continued his assault, aiming for Preta. The large man dodged all of his attacks; seemingly too fast for a man his size. As he fought Preta, Animal was forming more seals to draw from his seemingly infinite source of chakra. Animal brought forth 6 small creatures, each looking similar to a leech. He threw two into the mouth of Enma while throwing one each to Deva and Human. Animal placed his to his lips and swallowed the creature whole. He saw Preta edging his way towards him so he ran forward.
Animal drew closer to the fighting pair, careful not to be hit in the crossfire. Seeing an opening as Jiraiya ducked down for a kick, he ran forward and forced the leech into Preta's now open mouth. Preta swallowed before the kick came and retreated back with Animal.
Jiraiya growled in annoyance "Get back here lardy!"
Deva saw that all 4 of the fighting realms had now swallowed the leeches. He was ready to change tack.
"Bansho Tenin" said Deva quietly.
Jiraiya ran at the group but found himself hitting air. The group had sunk under the water and were showing no signs of needing to come up for air any time soon.
Jiraiya glared at the set from above the water.
'They must have caught on… the Gamaken Evasive Stance relies on a trick of the light. The water must refract the light, ruining it' thought Jiraiya. "Pa, Ma, is there anyway you can help me breathe underwater?"
"'Fraid not Jira… sage mode comes with gills sold separately" said Ma "Hold your breath?"
Jiraiya sighed "For a toad sage, this is possibly the worst thing I could do…"
"Suck it up… you made my vertigo play up, you are going down there whether you want to or not" said Ma sternly. Pa looked away bashfully, his wife was in a mood and it wasn't likely he could help.
Jiraiya took in a deep breath, closing his mouth and nose with chakra to stop it leaking out and dived down into the water. His lack of a usable arm became all too noticeable as he started flailing for a few seconds as he worked out how to swim like this with the halberd in his hand.
He felt something weird in his hand. Not a hot sensation like Asura experienced but a tightening instead. He looked closely at the halberd, using his webbed feet to propel him towards the realms. The wood of the halberd had gained furrows, making the surface look like skin after being in the water too long.
Jiraiya swung the halberd around as a test and realized what had happened. The furrows lowered the resistance of the water, the halberd had next to no problem moving in water now.
'Maybe this thing is sentient after all' thought Jiraiya, swinging the blade into a block against Preta's kick. The portly man had used a roundhouse kick as if there was no resistance at all. Jiraiya looked closely, and felt his arm give a sharp twinge of pain before settling down to a dull throb.
'Sage mode must have done some healing… my arm feels better' thought Jiraiya, testing his limb out gingerly. He looked around and saw Animal and Deva forming seals between them.
He saw bubbles emerge from their mouths but could not hear the name through the water. He didn't need to hear it though, its effect was instantaneous. Several large sharks of various species had been unleashed into the water from Animal, and 5 large sharks made of water from Deva. He heard the gnashing of teeth as they lunged for him in the water.
Water fighting never was Jiraiya's strong suit. But he managed in his own ways.
'Summoning Technique: Mountain Toad's Stomach' thought Jiraiya, forming hand seals and facing his palms to the sharks.
A large amount of thick pink stomach lining surrounded the group of sharks and eventually enclosing them. He could hear the squeals from inside as the water was pushed outwards and replaced by the gastric juice of the mountain toad. He focused beyond the high pitched noise and continued his charge at the 5 paths.
'Wait… 5? That means they're all back. But where's number 6?' thought Jiraiya too late. A large fist hit him from below. 'Shit… I wasn't paying attention'
The punch to his chin had caused him to open his mouth, letting his air out. Realizing his mistake too late, he had only one option. Resurface and get air before trying again. Jiraiya turned to swim upwards, but was grabbed by Asura, the realm that had hit him.
'Gotta… get… air…' thought Jiraiya, his pupils suddenly dilating. He saw colors, many colors and shapes too fast to comprehend. Triangles, Squares, Blue, Lines, Green, Circles, Pentagons, Red, Purple, Octagons, all things randomly and without a reason. He felt himself moving but without control, his body on autopilot while his mind was in turmoil.
Suddenly, he felt his lungs almost explode as fresh air made its way inside. He was now bobbing on the surface of the water, head held high to get as much of the clean life giving air as he could. Then he remembered where he was. He clambered onto the surface of the water, starting to get worried over his chakra supply. He leapt to the wall and started to regain his bearings, leaning on the halberd as a form of balance.
He ran up the wall until he was about 50 feet up before looking back down, seeing the 6 realms emerge from the water perfectly vertically. It was enough to disturb anyone. He looked especially closely at Asura, and saw the beast of a man holding his neck to curb the bleeding of a large gash.
"Did I do that?" asked Jiraiya to the toads on his shoulders.
"Jira… you were suffocating and started thrashing around. The halberd in your hand caught his neck by pure coincidence. To be honest, it's pure luck that you didn't die then" said Ma, eyes glazed over slightly, amazed at how close the fight came to ending then.
"It wasn't luck Ma… someone up there wants my message passed to Konoha. It's my job to give them as much info as possible" said Jiraiya.
The realms of Pain had amassed in the centre of the clearing, standing there and watching him. They didn't move, not even a single facial twitch. They had become statues.
'Damn… that's pretty freaky' thought Jiraiya staring back at them 'They're not even blinking… No living human can stare that long, the eye needs to blink… wait… what if they're not…THAT'S IT!' Jiraiya cracked a triumphant grin. He would need to write this down as soon as he got a chance. He started forming hand seals
"Summoning Technique: Battle Toad" yelled Jiraiya, bringing his usual battle partner into existence. Gama stuck to the wall along with his master, a routine they had established soon after they started working together. After all, a routine for stealth is the most important thing a peeper has.
"Thanks Gama. It's time to finish this fight" said Jiraiya, stepping onto the toads back as a support. "Pa… take the halberd back to Mt Myoboku, leave it for the next toad sage" Jiraiya placed the halberd, blunt end first, at the old toads mouth, letting him swallow it rather awkwardly.
"Jira, you'd better be coming back to Mt Myoboku with us." Said Ma sternly
"I'll try my best Ma… But that's a promise I can't make"
While the trio were talking, Animal was forming more seals. These weren't a usual summon, they were different. Forming seals of power and aggression rather than life and control, Animal continued his sequence.
As he finished, his fingers locked in the dragon seal, a loud crack was heard as six black orbs appeared, one in front of each realm. Animal unlocked his fingers and touched the orb. The orb distorted itself formed itself into a thin but long blade. Very simplistic in design but vicious looking all the same. This repeated for the other 5 orbs, each one forming a blade.
Jiraiya looked down at the scene below, seeing the weapons form and seeing the looks in the realms eyes… they were alive.
"Gama! Now!" yelled Jiraiya as he stood in the small valley between Gama's eyes. The large toad leapt into the air above the Pains, disappearing as he reached the apex of his jump and letting Jiraiya continue downwards. With a 150 metre drop to go, Jiraiya was far too high for even Deva's gravity powers to currently affect.
Normally, gravity is a cruel mistress and would have forced Jiraiya to plummet at high speed. But even the cruel can be manipulated. 5 rods in Jiraiya's red cloak spread apart from a central point near his neck. Each rod was in actuality just a thicker piece of chakra conductive fabric. By adding chakra, the fabric hardened.
In short, he gained a set of gliding wings.
"Jiraiya… you look like a squirrel when you do this" said Pa, trying to lighten the situation slightly.
"Squeak squeak, where's my nuts" replied Jiraiya dryly
"FLAMING DRAGON TECHNIQUE!" came a yell from below as Deva fired a fire dragon at the descending sage.
Jiraiya dodged the inferno by barrel rolling to the side and replied in kind yelling "Blind Toads Elegy!"
He felt the pores of his skin clog up with oil, but he kept a layer of chakra above his skin, forcing the oil to become more concentrated. As he approached 100 metres in height, he released the oil. With Jiraiya's height and the push given by the release, the majority of the clearing was covered in the oil. A large section of rock was the only part not covered with the oil.
The oil floating on the water made a semi-barrier around the rock; Jiraiya saw this and aimed his landing for that spot.
The realms of Pain responded to Jiraiya's movements and started to approach the rocky area before anything stopped them.
Jiraiya reached inside of his vest, his fingers grasping around something he'd been keeping for 4 years for just such an occasion. A medium sized scroll; battered and discolored from being next to Jiraiya's body for nearly 4 years non-stop.
Opening the scroll, Jiraiya focused his chakra in the centre before quickly turning it upside down. Pitch black flames emerged, so dark that light could not escape its surface.
Pain's bodies stopped at the flames appeared, Deva muttering its name.
"Amaterasu"
'This is why I kept the Amaterasu, for a fight like this' thought Jiraiya, watching the flames descend.
As the flames touched down on the surface of the water, the oil ignited. The concentration of the oil was what made the difference. The oil's flammability was tripled by the concentration, with this combined with the sheer destructive power of Amaterasu, the heat almost burnt Jiraiya out of the sky.
Every spot hit by the oil ignited in a split second. As mystical as the fire was, it was still fire, and could be strengthened by adding more material to one part of the fire triangle. Oxygen, Fuel and Heat. In this case, it was fuel.
Pain looked around him as Jiraiya started descending rapidly towards the rock, a barrier now between them and the sage. Jiraiya sat down, regaining his breath as he watched the 6 men outside of the fire.
Deva gave a small signal with his hand, a small bending of one knuckle but enough. Animal and Preta shot forward, Preta opening his mouth to absorb the fire while Animal charged right through it.
Jiraiya stared in shock at the realm, making its way dedicatedly through the flames, intent on its target. Him. He saw the skin start to melt like wax, bubbling and distorting before popping, but that did not bother him. His muscles started to cook, making a makeshift barbeque for cannibals, the smell even causing the toad sage's stomach to growl slightly.
The realm eventually broke through, still burning and alarming the toad sage, whose chakra supply was almost dangerously low at that point.
"Pa… Ma… I'm not getting out of here alive. You need to go and warn Konoha." Said Jiraiya as he avoided the burning body of Animal. Using the same scroll as before, he used a small amount of chakra and sealed the body of Animal inside it. He then gave this scroll to Shima.
"Ma, take this to Konoha's Investigations Department." Said Jiraiya "Pa… I have a message for you to take to Tsunade, and only to her. She can tell who she wants but she must the only one you tell it to. Understand?"
Upon receiving a nod from the toad, Jiraiya continued "There is no real one. Pain is alive but the body is dead"
Pa understood as Jiraiya rose to his feet. "Ma, can you leave now? Me and lil Jira will finish this ourselves" asked the old toad.
Ma nodded "Ok, I'll see you later" she said quietly "Especially you Jiraiya, you gallant lad you"
Jiraiya felt his eyes tear up slightly as he waved her off, watching her disappear back to Mt Myoboku.
"One last attack, right Jiraiya?" said Pa
"Right" replied the toad sage.
Jiraiya walked over the bank of the rock, so close that he would catch fire on a single misdirected breath of wind. Forming hand seals, Jiraiya called out "Tornado Of Spines!"
As his hair got longer, he formed a Rasengan in each hand and thrust them into the black fire in front of him.
"ARRRRRGGHHH!" screamed Jiraiya, eyes closed in pain. The fire in his hands burning his wrists and forearms but also, being dragged into the Rasengan hovering in his palm.
The wind soon picked up, the tornado sucking in the flames like a vacuum. Jiraiya rose with the tornado, acting as its control point. This monstrosity of a technique was one beyond most people's comprehension. It's very base elements were dangerous. A B-rank wind technique, an A-rank attack technique and an S-rank stolen bloodline limit. This amalgamation of techniques could have been given a name, and would be given one in the future. But now, it was nameless, a mystery to the man who claimed he was god.
"YOU DIE WITH ME, PAIN!" yelled Jiraiya, pushing the tornado towards the group.
Unable to dodge such a large attack with so little room to move, the realms of Pain were swept into the blender from hell unceremoniously. Each one went through an accelerated process of what happened to Animal, but before reaching the rotating Rasengan at the top, disappeared.
"NO!" yelled Jiraiya, feeling the last of his chakra disappear as the tornado stopped short of destroying their bodies like Animal.
He fell the 20 feet to ground that he had been hovering at, landing off balance on his feet and keeling over almost instantly.
"Jiraiya!" said Fukusaku from his perch on Jiraiya's shoulder. "Behind You!"
Jiraiya looked around and almost passed out right there and then. Enma, the King Of Hell, was there and coming out of his large abyssal mouth were 5 of the realms of Pain, each one still holding its blade with not a scratch on them.
"Pa… go…" whispered Jiraiya as he rolled over onto his back
"I'm sorry Jiraiya" said Pa, eyes crinkling as he started the hiccupping that pre-empted tears.
*bamf*
And Fukusaku was gone. Safe now in Mt Myoboku, he would pass on the message, and Pain would fall.
"How'd you like… them apples Pain?" asked Jiraiya, smiling through his exhaustion.
Jiraiya never did receive his reply, the realms had surrounded him as he spoke and ran their blades through his vital points. Heart, Jugular, Lungs, Kidney, Larynx. All 5 had been destroyed by those black blades of Pain.
As the blades were withdrawn, the blood and bile that evacuated the wounds was enough to confirm the facts.
"Here dies Jiraiya Of The Sannin, may his soul rest in peace" said Deva to the other 4. "Now… let us pray for Master Jiraiya"
XxX
The day had finally come, Naruto had been summoned to the Toad Realm of Mt Myoboku by Fukusaku and Shima for one of the most important events in the recent history of the Toads. The Memorial Service of Jiraiya and the reading of his will.
Almost the entire Royal Toad Infantry had turned out to honor Jiraiya, whose funeral was never possible. As a ninja, he lived in battle, and as a ninja, he died in battle. It was the only thing they could do to remember him.
The Oracle sat in his pool of Toad Oil, the beefy smell filling the cavernous room and having a calming effect on most of the congregation. He was the holder of all contracts and would be the one reading the will. All figures of importance were seated on a podium the size of a playing field. Mostly occupied by Gamabunta. Naruto sat beside him in full toad sage battle uniform, a testament to his new position. Tsunade had managed to wangle a few hours out of the office on a 'Diplomatic Mission' as an Emissary to the toads. She sat in her usual clothing, though it had taken Shizune several hours to convince her not to wear her black kimono.
"Toads, and our esteemed guests, Naruto Uzumaki and Tsunade Senju, we are here today to honor our Summoner Jiraiya. A man from unknown origins and an orphan of the Second Secret Shinobi War. He came to us as a child, having yet to mature, drawn by fate and handled by the passage of time. He became the Toad's greatest warrior, and our greatest loss. I prophesized that he would be our child of legend, alas I was wrong. But my beliefs are not for today. I understand that Boss Toad Gamabunta would like to say a few words." Finished the Oracle, as he motioned to the figure sat beside him.
Gamabunta looked up, his eyes closed, and he spoke in his booming voice.
"I expected great things from that lil perv ya know… he was a great man, never backed down from a fight. Or he knew I would have toasted him but he did it anyway. I don't know where that man is now, but I'm sure he's happy." Said Gamabunta. His inverted eyes starting to water slightly but to hide it, he simply blew a smoke ring to cover his face.
"Very well, now Chief Leaper Gamakichi of 5th Battalion has been granted permission to speak." Conveyed the Oracle
Gamakichi approached the podium in full battle regalia, including blade, he had no need for fancy clothes. The Toads valued practicality over style at any time.
"Yo! As you all know, I'm the boss's son. This isn't about pulling rank though. I'm here 'cause my pop's summoner was the sensei of our guest of honor, my best bud Naruto. It's thanks to them both that I managed to get strong. The big guy pulled some strings in the village and got me some training from those eyebrow freaks." This illicited some chuckles among his battalion. They had all experienced the wrath that of Maito Gai or Rock Lee at some point or another.
"What I'm trying to get at is that, well, I owe the man a lot. Now I can never repay him, so I will do the next best thing." At this point Gamakichi took off his blade, a large 6 foot broadsword, and laid it at Naruto's feet.
"I pledge my sole allegiance to the latest Toad Contract Holder, from this day on, I will answer to no man's call but your own." This shocked the toad army. It's not often that a summon would have either the gall or the stupidity to refuse a summoning call from all except one man.
"Yes yes yes, that's quite enough excitement for one minute Gamakichi. Now put your blade away and allow the Will to be read" mumbled another Toad, Gamahiro. Or as is his preferred name, the Food Cart Destroyer. Most famous for his Bring Down The House technique.
The Oracle started clearing his throat, which turned into a rather raspy cough and then into a combination of retching and choking. After all this fuss, a scroll the size of a drink can came out and into his hand.
"Now we can begin" said the Oracle as he formed a few Toad Hand Seals. And the scroll grew to become the size of a combat grade weapons summoning scroll. The only one Naruto had seen before was on that girl from Lee's teams back.
'I'll have to ask her about that when I get home' thought Naruto briefly.
"Very well, I shall now begin the reading. There will be no paraphrasing as tradition dictates that the person's truest thoughts are in their will." Commented the Oracle as he cleared his throat.
"To all my little toady friends. I'm sure I've somehow died in a courageous yet completely awesome way, like attempting to motorboat that amazing bosom on Tsunade Senju, but alas, that is nothing but imagery from my dreams and imprinted into Icha Icha Forbidden.
Anyhoo, I'm not a big speaker or reader. So I'll keep this simple. I have messages to everyone I care for in the seal under this message. They are to be delivered privately and the same for reading them. Now. I'm sure you people all want to know what I've left some of you. I can't promise wealth, women and wonderful alcohol. All I can promise is that I hope each gift means to you as much as it means to me.
To Gamabunta, I leave my entire collection of fine sake. I hope you will accept them as an apology for that lousy bottle of cheap sake I bought to our first drink.
To Gamakichi, You're a fine soldier boy, I hope you protect Naruto as well as you have the rest of Mt Myoboku. I leave you with my Oni Headband. May it grant you luck in future battles as you become everything you want to be.
To Gamachuu, I leave an entire signed series of Icha Icha. Please do not read them near the waterfall again.
To Ma and Pops, I leave you with my apprentice Naruto. I hope you can train him to match my level of sheer awesomeness.
To Tsunade, my teammate, crush, occupier of my thoughts. I leave with enough cash to settle her debts finally with a hope she will remain a true Hokage. I would also like to leave a small message to you. Out of the many times I experienced the making of love, those 3 times I spent with you when you were sober were the best of my life.
This caused a small aww to come from the toad's gathered as Tsunade blushed beet red.
I'd also like you to know that the other 4 times when you were drunk were pretty damn awesome too.
That was enough for Naruto, he'd been listening to this pervert's innuendo for the past 5 years but nothing made him chuckle quite like seeing Tsunade flustered.
"Stupid man, I was only pretending the first time." Said Tsunade, arms crossed under her rather generous chest with a blush still on her cheeks.
Her embarrassment wasn't quite over as the toad's had nowhere near the self control Naruto had and were openly guffawing all over the room.
It eventually took another 5 minutes just to calm the toads down by letting them laugh it out of their system.
Then the Oracle continued.
To the entire Mt Myoboku, I will be there as your guardian. I will be in every toadstool, every mountain and every blade of grass, so care for each other and I will care for all of you in return.
And finally, to my Apprentice Naruto, I leave this. A rubber ball. I'm sure you remember which one. I believe I caught it in my teeth one day while you learnt the Rasengan. Remember to take care of it and never to let it go.
I will now leave you with a few more words of my choosing.
WOOHOO! 100 POINTS!
This is Jiraiya. It's been great fun knowing you guys and even greater fun ogling Tsunade while she's not looking. See ya."
After the toad population stopped the collective sniggering at the expense of Tsunade, Fukusaku saw fit to speak up.
"Thank you all for coming, but if you'll excuse us, we have some rather important business to take care of. If someone would be so kind as to take Tsunade back to the Leaf Village for me, I would most appreciate it"
Some cocky toad just had to say "What's that?"
The instant reply was "Training the idiot over here" said the small toad while pointing at Naruto. Naruto walked over intent on bopping the small frog over the head but instead got a scroll shoved into his hand and a reverse summon to Ma and Pa's private quarters at the top of the mountain.
*Bamf*
The disoriented teenager was spiral eyed for a few minutes after the summoning. A rather unfortunate side effect of summoning the rookie.
Fukusaku waited patiently as Naruto regained his bearings, looked at the scroll in his hands, looked at Fukusaku, and did the sequence again. Eventually, Fukusaku had had enough and bonked Naruto on the head with his cane.
"Get over yourself boy. Read the scroll already and let's get this started."
Naruto stared blankly at the scroll for a few seconds before seeing something that he had seen on some important documents during his travels. A blood seal. He did what he saw the Daimyo do when he opened it. He pricked his finger on a kunai and swept it over the seal. The seal started to unlock. Literally. The pieces of the seal moved out to become just a part of the scrolls design, leaving the scroll ready to open. Naruto opened up the scroll and looked inside.
'Hey brat, sorry I couldn't give you more but it's all I could do to prepare you. There's only one person left in this world that can fight Akatsuki's Leader, You. I'm not sure of his abilities as I write this but I know he will be powerful. Remember, that ball is the key to greater things than you realize.
This is my last message to you Naruto, I only hope I could have been a better godfather. Become strong, become Hokage, become a sage.'
Fukusaku looked as Naruto's eyes started misting over. He saw the tears rolling and heard choking sobs. This carried on for several minutes until he managed to maintain some semblance of control over himself.
Naruto's wet eyes looked at the ball his true master had given him. It was nondescript. A simple looking baseball he used for Rasengan training.
'A baseball? I was sure those balls I used were blank. This has… stitching.'
Naruto cleared his tears quickly and swallowed the hiccups he had gained from looked closer and closer until he saw what no one would have ever noticed.
Seals.
But there was something pitiful about this situation. Naruto had no clue what this seal was. Jiraiya, while he taught him about seals, had not taught much on identification.
So Naruto did the one thing he always did in this situation. He tried what he did know until it worked.
He put his hand into his leg holster and drew out a kunai. He placed the kunai to his palm and forced it through, messily tearing into tendons and muscle, eliciting a hiss from him and a wince from Fukusaku.
"Boy, if you're trying to injure yourself enough you won't be able to fight, wait for the training. If you don't get it right, I'll do the job for you."
'Smartass frog…' thought Naruto with a grimace on his face. He picked up the scroll and covered it in blood from his palm. This time, the blood did nothing except be absorbed into the paper.
"Damn it!" grumbled Naruto as he looked at the scroll some more. "Maybe I should give it to Gamahiro and Gamaken… I'm sure they would like a challenge."
"I was under the impression you still wanted to be able to use it afterwards. Either way, it's not like they can break it. Hell, I doubt even Rasengan could open the damn thing.
"That's actually not a bad idea Toad-man" said Naruto with a slim sparkle of hope in his eyes. "Shadow Clone Technique!"
A clone bamfed into existence while Naruto held the baseball in one hand. The clone did their standard Rasengan into his hand then left the existence plane as quickly as it arrived.
"RASENGAN!" called Naruto as he slammed the two together.
White.
That was all he could see for a few seconds after impact. Slowly he opened his eyes. The feeling of sudden blindness gone now but the loss of balance still hitting him like an oversized brick. And it was still there. One baseball, in one solid piece.
Naruto placed his head to the ground again before mumbling "Permission to say cock"
"Granted"
"Smartass" groaned Naruto as he sat himself up, stopping midway as red and blue dots jumped into his field of vision, kicking him behind the eyeballs and making his eyes water.
"Relax boy, the training can wait temporarily. Rest yourself and try to solve that thing in the village. Socialize for a bit perhaps, do you have a lady friend you have been neglecting recently?" questioned the old frog
Naruto pondered on this, he hadn't spent much time socializing since he got back from his journey.
'The toad might be onto something. I've been pretty damn cold to my friends over the past week. I'm sure they'll forgive me but Lee will probably make me spar with him.'
"Ok Pops, I'll go back to the Hidden Leaf Village!" exclaimed Naruto enthusiastically as he jumped up and walking away from Fukusaku.
'3…2…1…'
"Fukusaku…"
'Bingo'
"Which way is the Leaf Village?" asked a befuddled Naruto.
"Summon Gamakichi, he'll show you how to get there and back easily."
Naruto didn't reply, instead he formed the necessary hand seals to use the summoning technique. As Naruto slammed his hand to the ground, the usual runes didn't appear. Instead, he got slammed into the ground by a large mass of flesh on his back soon identified by the loud yell of "Whoever is under my ass, get out before I crap on you." as Gamakichi.
"My Apologies Kichi, I told the boy to summon you. He needs a ride back to Konohagakure." Said Fukusaku "And one more thing" this he muttered under his breath "Make it showy"
"Gotcha Boss, come on Naruto, get out from under there and I'll get you back." Said Gamakichi as he lifted himself to one side allowing Naruto to climb out. Naruto looked at both before yelling a loud "WHAT THE HELL!"
Fukusaku, for his part, looked completely innocent "Ah, it must have slipped my age-addled mind. Summoning in a summon realm is always a random experience. I still remember when Jiraiya tried to do it to Bunta, oh the laughs I had at that…" said the Toad Sentinel cackling mildly. "Now leave!" as he swiped his cane at the pair.
Gamakichi had enough sense to realize they'd both been done up like thanksgiving turkey, grabbed Naruto and stuck him on his back before he could attack the foot high toad.
"Ready buddy?" asked Gamakichi as he formed Toad Hand Seals "3..2..1… Bring Down The House Technique!"
And the two bamfed away.
Fukusaku just sat there thinking for a second.
'When did Gamahiro teach him THAT move?'
It was quiet in the Leaf Village. A sombre mood. One of the village's greatest ninja had perished at the hands of the enemy. But emotions should never get in the way of duty. That is what shinobi were meant to feel, but few managed to keep that. The largest concentration of non-mourners was in the Hyuuga clan.
They were following their normal schedule. Hinata and Hanabi of the Main Family were sparring against each other in the Peace Gardens. A small section of the Hyuuga compound that Hinata owned via a small loophole in Hyuuga law; that allowed the Heiress a section of the compound to do with as she wished to practice leadership skills.
Hinata did no such thing in it; she trained herself to be a benevolent person. The garden was her child. Lavender flowers everywhere, not her favorite flower but the smell was extremely calming. She had even had some of her friends redirect a water source underground to make a pond where water lilies could rest.
'Maybe I should ask Father for some animals to add to the pond.' Thought Hinata as she dodged a strike to her sternum from Hanabi.
At this moment, her father, Hiashi, sneezed. This awakened him from the meditation he was experiencing with his nephew, Neji. The pair was seated cross legged in Hiashi's private dojo with their Byakugan active. This was a training exercise meant to increase distractions so meditation was more difficult
"Lord Hiashi, I believe that your interruption was most opportune. There is a large ball of chakra heading towards the manor."
Hiashi was aware of the ball of chakra for only a bit longer than Neji but had already thought over a plan in his head.
"Neji, inform guard squads 7 to 18 they are to assume defensive positions over the entire manor. I also want squads 1 and 2 to activate the Grand Kaiten Barrier."
The Grand Kaiten Barrier was the Hyuuga clan's greatest defense. A giant rotating sphere of chakra powered by several Branch families. This was held until they ran out of chakra and then others took their place while the first group regenerated chakra. This led to a strong barrier that could only be either broken by a demon or defeated by a siege.
"Lord Hiashi, the barrier would take too long to set up, this ball of chakra is approaching at speeds nearing afterimage velocity. May I suggest we wait for impact and contain the target?" asked the young Jounin.
"Very well, I wish to see who would be so bold as to attack the Hyuuga manor with only one unit." Confirmed Hiashi as he got up and Leaf Flickered to the estimated area of impact. Neji took this as his cue to leave as he ran to the guard's quarters to inform them of the decision.
Hinata had her sister floored. The younger Hyuuga had had her kneecap's Tenketsu sealed and was now sitting slumped on the floor.
"That's good Hanabi, you lasted 23 minutes that time. That's a half minute improvement on last time." Said Hinata while she checked her stopwatch. Her Byakugan still active as was her custom whenever she trained with Hanabi. Then she saw it. The same ball of chakra that Neji and Hiashi had seen just minutes ago. She could hear a small noise coming from the ball, almost like hearing an echo from one end of a tunnel.
But it was too late to do anything but watch now.
The ball was already level with the roof before Hanabi screamed.
*WOOOOMMMMM*
"BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE PEEPS!"
There was utter chaos in the Peace Gardens. Hinata had slid into her Gentle Fist stance once she heard the noise. This was soon changed when the tidal wave formerly known as the pond hit her and Hanabi. The two were both knocked off their feet and drenched from head to toe simultaneously.
Then they saw just what had landed in their pond.
A giant toad, the size of a medium boulder, with a broadsword and a large headband sporting the kanji for oil had got itself stuck in the boggy mud where the pond's bottom would have been. And on top of this was the greatest surprise. Naruto Uzumaki in all his fine glory. He wore clothes befitting his position, he was Jiraiya's Heir and now he was the Toad Sage. He had kept his bright orange cargo pants while replacing his jacket with one that had more black on it. Over this slight change in clothing, he wore a cape like his father before him, in red with black flaming trim. On his back was his final item, the large Toad Contract, secured by a shoulder bound leather strap.
Standing atop his partner like nothing had even happened; he hopped down off the frog while completely blanking the duo of Hyuuga's. He turned on the frog and then proceeded to do what Naruto Uzumaki does brilliantly. He made himself heard loud and clear.
"WHAT THE HELL KICHI!" yelled the indignant blond. He couldn't resist the temptation any longer and just started wailing on the summon.
"I asked for a lift!" "Please Bro.. Fukusa…" "NO! SCREW HIM! You dropped me from a MILE UP into the CLAN estate!" "But Pa said to make it flashy!" "SO WHAT? If he told you to stick my HEAD IN THE FREAKING OVEN would you do it?" "No but.." "SEE! There! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING HE SAYS!" "But Please Bro! He'd tell my pops!" "SO? You're a grown toad now! I thought you'd at least have a frigging BACKBONE! What are you? A Tadpole?"
Naruto continued his rant at the toad until an utterly confused Hinata made her presence known.
"Excuse me, Naruto. I'm not sure it is my place to question you but just why did you see fit to completely ruin my pond and drown the majority of the plants in my corner of the Hyuuga estate" said the normally timid Hinata, covered in wet lavender petals and a water lily in her hair.
"I swear Kichi! If you so much as CONSIDER pulling this crap again, I'll rip your gizz…. Err… sorry Ma'am, oh wait" said Naruto peering at the sopping form of Hinata "Hinata… oh hey, how've you been?"
If Hinata could actually get mad, this would have been the perfect opportunity. Fortunately, the one person who could save his bacon arrived on just in time.
Hiashi Hyuuga opened the door to find a strange man talking casually with his heir and daughter with a battle toad trying to pull itself out of the remnants of a very expensive pond and Hanabi sitting in a corner mumbling things like "Flying Toads" and "Lavender Tidal Wave". So he did the one thing all parents are trained to do somehow naturally.
He defended his daughter's honor.
Or at least he would have, had he not spotted a rather large amount of chakra compressed into a tiny space.
'Chakra Bomb' was all Hiashi could think. That was before he assumed his Clan Head mood and made his stand.
"Naruto Uzumaki, I would normally tolerate this visit, but to come to my home bearing a weapon of mass destruction is beyond ethics"
Naruto on the other hand hadn't been paying attention to the door and was doing just what Jiraiya had sadly trained him to do. He was ogling. When his brain finally registered the threat level of his situation, he looked up at Hiashi, still half cross-eyed.
"Weapons of mass distraction?" questioned Naruto.
Hiashi was already really stressed, even after just meditating, which showed the sheer amount of annoyance the blond brought with him.
"I said, DROP THE WEAPON!" yelled the Hyuuga clan head "The one in your left pocket!"
Suddenly Naruto realized what he was talking about. He withdrew the baseball from his pocket.
"Oh, you mean this?" mumbled Naruto. Hinata and Hanabi just gawped as the moronic sage had the same annoyance factor as tying someone's shoelaces together then slapping them and hoping they chase you.
"YES!" yelled all three Hyuuga's. Hinata and Hanabi joining in, hoping the number of them would convince him to act seriously.
"But it's just Jiraiya's gift to me from his will! I doubt he would have made his only apprentice a suicide bomber for no reason! I was actually coming to ask Hinata and Neji if they would help me with it while we hung out, but noooooo Mr Grouchy Ass Hyuuga just has to be one massive spoilsport."
"But… that's a Shield Seal. Why would he put a Shield Seal on a baseball. That's normally used for storing things with maximum security for long periods of time, making them only accesible to a single chakra signature. "
Naruto just stared at him… then stared a bit more… and then some more.
'No… Freaking… Way' "And you know how to unlock these seals?" asked Naruto hopefully. His annoyance level now on the same number as an angry mosquito but lowering slowly.
"I do, but even a non-Byakugan user should be able to tell that seal is immensely powerful. Look at its surface area, it's extremely large. Most Shield Seals are only about a 3 feet square at maximum, that one is about 30 feet square if my guess is any good." Said Hiashi in his trained arrogant voice.
"And again in words I understand?"
Hinata couldn't help but giggle at this.
"It means that the bigger the seal, the more chakra you need to pump into it to break it." Answered Hinata as she went into her bedroom. Presumably to change out of the wet clothes.
After hearing this, Naruto looked like he'd just been offered a night with any woman he wanted. Or better yet, any woman in a giant bowl of ramen.
"So I have to focus my chakra into the object and force it open, correct?" asked Naruto quickly
"I suppose"
"Stand back then Mr Hyuuga, or I might just blind you with pure awesomeness."
Hiashi stepped back, he knew never to try and interfere when Naruto Uzumaki started doing something.
Naruto's chakra bubbled to the surface as he did his most powerful chakra gathering exercise. He charged his charka onto a centre point in the middle of the sphere he was holding.
The chakra gathered and he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. That powdery rubber stretching and squashing in his palm. This was exactly the same thing as what happened when he was learning stage two of the Rasengan.
He felt himself approach the bursting point as he felt the rubber start cracking underneath his fingers.
*FFFFHHHHWOOOOO*
All the air in the garden was sucked into the ball in Naruto's palm before suddenly repelling itself, causing a massive shockwave to blast in a true 360-degree circle.
Plaster cracked on all the walls, Hiashi quickly shut the door he had been standing near and left the room while Naruto was stuck in the eye of this storm. The plaster on the walls eventually started to give way.
His shock and awe only lasted so long, as finally, the power from the pseudo-Rasengan erupted as one final giant wave of backlash.
*PHMP*
The sheer magnitude of the chakra that had been released was too much for the newly inaugurated Toad Sage as he was launched backwards over 10 meters away. Unfortunately, this was 2 meters more than the distance between him and the wall.
The mass of a 5 foot 4 inch body proved to be too much for the plaster walls as the one he was launched into gave way easily. What surprised him was that he hit a second, fleshier, wall that collapsed under his weight. Then he saw the blue hair.
'Awww Crap' thought Naruto as he saw a half-naked Hinata Hyuuga on top of him and unconscious.
He thought it was his lucky day when Hinata woke up and tried to assess her situation. But it seemed that old habits died hard. She took one look, screamed, and headbutted him senseless.
'Déjà vu' thought Naruto before he completely blacked out, now laying back on the ground near where he started.
When Naruto next saw light, he was being licked by something. Namely, a tongue attached to a toad. And this toad connected to a very large scroll.
"Hi lil Naruto, I'm Key" said the toad now named Key.
Naruto looked at the toad. And smiled.
XxX
A/N: Here's the second chapter. Read and review as always. This was beta'd by Lucifer Allheart, the author of Naruto: Arashiodori, so make sure to check it out and review if you don't already read it.